Ef. Murphy et al., The reduced adsorption of lysozyme at the phosphorylcholine incorporated polymer/aqueous solution interface studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, BIOMATERIAL, 20(16), 1999, pp. 1501-1511
Coating hydrogel polymers onto solid substrates can reduce the adsorption o
f proteins onto these surfaces, but the extent of the reduction in protein
adsorption is strongly dependent on how the surface layer is coated. We hav
e examined the effect of coating conditions on the structure of thin polyme
r films :formed from a number of poly(methacrylate)-based hydrogel polymers
via the dip-coating method. We show in this work how the polarity of the s
olvent, the speed of lifting, and the annealing temperature affect the thic
kness and uniformity of ultrathin phosphorylcholine (PC)-incorporated polym
er films coated on the surface of native oxide on silicon and the subsequen
t interaction of these coated surfaces with lysozyme molecules. Our results
show that the uniformity of the polymer film, and thus the smoothness of t
he outer film surface, influence the extent of reduction in protein adsorpt
ion. We suggest that the reduction in lysozyme adsorption is the result of
a layer of PC groups on the surface of the polymer film. The improvement of
the smoothness of the film results in the formation of a close-packed PC l
ayer on the outer surface of the polymer film, leaving few defects or cavit
ies on which protein molecules can bind. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.